


Before the Light Goes

by NovaGirl



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Hogwarts, Marauders' Era, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 01:46:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8425909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NovaGirl/pseuds/NovaGirl
Summary: The Marauders final year at Hogwarts will prove to be more exciting, and more terrifying then they ever imagined.





	

It was a week before the last first day of Hogwarts for Lily Evans, and it was a bad day. A very bad day, possibly one of the worst in her life. Her parents were dead. And there was nothing anyone could do to change that, muggle or otherwise. They were gone, and Petunia was silent. For the first time in years, Petunia didn’t yell at Lily, she didn’t blame her for it. She was simply silent, unmoving. Lily decided she preferred the yelling. She realized the doctor was still talking. She tried to pay attention, but she only got bits and pieces. Dead on arrival… they tried everything… gone… Lily squeezed her fists shut and turned away from the doctor, and tried to contain her emotions. Don’t do anything stupid, she said, repeating the silent mantra in her head over and over. It wasn’t helping.  
She looked at Petunia, who simply looked at her sister. She didn’t offer any comfort, but Lily wasn’t surprised. She stood there, quietly controlling her rage, when her sister gasped and leapt to her feet, running down the hallway.  
“Vernon, thank god you’re here!” she cried, colliding with the man, who immediately lifted the girl into his arms. They stayed locked in each other's arms for a moment, completely blind to the world. Lily could hear Petunias soft sobbing, even though her face was buried in Vernon's chest. Vernon shushed her, stroking her hair. Lily’s heart ached, when she realized she wasn’t needed here. She probably wasn’t even wanted. She realized with a pang that she didn’t particularly want to be here either. She grabbed her jacket from where she had sung it over her chair, and went over to her sister. Vernon nudged Petunia, and she pulled away from him, turning to Lily.  
“I’m going to head home. I think I’m going to stay with a friend until school starts, I don’t want to be a burden to you.” She said, looking at the floor. Petunia nodded stiffly.  
“I would appreciate that. How will I contact you about the funeral? Who are you staying with?” She asked, sounding concerned. Lily shrugged.  
“I’ll send an owl and you can send when the funeral is.” Lily muttered, shouldering past Vernon and Petunia and hurrying towards the exit. Before she reached the exit, Petunia called to her.  
“Lily, wait!” Lily turned to see her running towards her. “Come home for Christmas. Mum and Dad would want us to spend the holidays together. And you are family, regardless of how I feel about you.”  
“Such a warm invitation, Petunia. Thank you for your kindness.” Lily rolled her eyes, but before she turned away she sighed, “I’m sorry, that was rude. If you really want me there, I’ll be there. but I don’t want to impose.”  
Petunia was silent for a moment.  
“I do want you there. I don’t want to hate you anymore, but I realized I don’t know enough about you to like you. I would very much like to fix that, little sister.” She seemed embarrassed, but Lily grinned at her, and grabbed one of her hands and squeezed.  
“I’d like that.” She said softly.  
The sisters parted ways amicably. Not yet friends, but having that be more of a possibility than before.  
Lily took a cab home, spending the entire ride pushing what happened to the back of her mind, so she could function. Luckily, suppressing feelings was something she was very good at, so it only took a moment.  
It didn’t take long before she had paid the cab driver, and was standing on the front lawn of the house. Memories danced in her mind. Most of them before Hogwarts time, but happy Christmas memories were scattered throughout. Her parents always being proud of her powers, and apparent academic success at school, and their excitement when she returned for the summer.  
Even if she had spent the majority of her life away, she realized, didn’t mean she wouldn’t miss home.  
She unlocked the front door and flicked on the entrance lights. The absolute quiet of the house pressed on her mind. She had to get out of here. But where to go?  
She almost gasped as an idea sparked in her mind. She recalled a letter she had received a few weeks ago from Remus, which had come with an item in a pouch. An item that the letter had said was a portkey. She would visit Remus, she decided. He would be a comforting presence to have at the moment.  
She rushed up the stairs and burst into her room, waking up and startling her cat, Ringo. He was a fluffy, black cat that Lily had found as a kitten downtown. She had nursed him back to health herself, and had raised into quite the familiar. The cat yawned and stretched. He sat back and blinked up at his mistress, looking quite put out about having been woken up. She simply scratched his head and went directly to her cluttered desk, hoping she hadn’t thrown the letter away.  
After a moment of practically digging through the papers on her desk, Lily exclaimed in delight when she found the letter. She unfolded it quickly and reread it, to be certain the invitation was open to anytime. It was.  
She grabbed her wand from her bedside table and packed her things with a wave of it. Except for one outfit, and she was still wearing pajamas and planned to change. She picked up the clothes, and headed to the bathroom to shower. She quickly washed her hair, and everything else, and practically leapt out. She dried herself with a towel and got dressed. She pulled her hair into a quick braid and went back to her room.  
She picked Ringo up gently and sat him in her back pack, atop of a pile of books, and a folded up sweater. He looked at her again like he was annoyed to be disturbed, but it wasn’t long before he curled up and went to sleep, purring softly.  
Lily pulled the straps over her shoulder, careful not to wake him. She put her smaller suitcase under one arm, and grabbed the other one, leaving a hand free for the portkey. Before she left, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, and sighed at her appearance.  
Her face was flushed, her eyes dim. She had dark, almost bruise-like circles under her eyes. Remus was going to lecture her. No matter, she had to go.  
She fished the small pouch from the envelope, and dumped the content onto her bed. Remus’s prefect badge hit the comforter with a light thud, and Lily smiled softly.  
She looked around her room and sighed. She had outgrown it long ago anyway.  
“Brace yourself, Ringo.” She muttered, and picked the badge up in her hand. What felt like a tugging sensation in the pit of her stomach caused some sudden nausea and she gasped at the unexpected feeling. She was pulled through nothing and everything at the same time, and she collapsed onto the suddenly grassy ground. Ringo hopped out of the still open bag and curled up on the grass. Lily glared at him.  
“At least you’re happy.” She muttered, climbing to her feet. She looked around and was taken aback by the beauty of her surroundings.  
She had been taken to the front lawn of a large, beautiful cottage. There were vines and other types of flora that Lily could vaguely recognize from herbology class, they climbed the walls, giving the home a fairytale like feel. The entirety of the house was built with grey stones, but the the rocks that made up the main part of the house were ancient, and Lily assumed they were being held together almost entirely by magic. The rest of the house was newer, and sprawled up and out from the main part. It looked like a small, very confusing castle. But it was amazing. There was a path leading to the front door, and around the side of the house, you could just glimpse a greenhouse, and the surrounding gardens. Lily was breathless.  
She started walking towards the door, but stopped dead when she heard a loud crack behind her, and suddenly she wasn’t the only person on the lawn. She spun around and almost ran directly into James Potter. A shirtless, sopping wet, James Potter. She jumped back, as did he, covering his chest.  
“Evans, what the bloody hell are you doing here?” He exclaimed, turning bright red. Lily snapped her wandering eyes to his as she felt heat rising in her cheeks as well. James smirked despite his blush. “See something you like?”  
“No. And I was invited.” She said, trying to calm herself, and feeling the events of the day pressing against her mental barriers. No. She refused to break in front of James.  
James looked closely at Lily’s face, and he frowned, taking a step closer to her.  
“Evans, what is it?” He asked softly, not prying. Lily realized that if she didn’t say anything, he wouldn’t try to make her. She smiled weakly.  
“Nothing. I’m alright. Is Remus here?” She asked, wringing her hands, her bags at her feet. James clenched his jaw, but he nodded.  
“You’re a terrible liar, Evans.” He said. He grabbed her two bags, and started walking towards the front door. “Come one, I’ll show you your room, then I’ll take you to Remus.”  
“Could I see him first? I really would like to talk to him.” She said, trying not to let her desperation show in her voice. James paused for a split second, but kept going.  
“Sure. I’ll show you your room later.” He shifted Lily’s bags so he could open the door, and he stepped aside and gestured with his head. “After you.”  
“Thank you.” She murmured, already looking around the inner room.  
The room was completely open, with a kitchen, dining room, and living room all combined together haphazardly, in a charmingly messy way. You could tell there used to be walls separating the rooms, but they had been long demolished, making the room huge, but homey.  
The kitchen had everything a usual kitchen does, but it also had plants everywhere. Herbs, Lily realized. And a huge tea plant.  
The dining room had an old, gorgeous wooden table, and a matching dining set. There was a intricate lace tablecloth covering part of it, and a bouquet of various flowers sat in the middle. Text books and parchment was thrown messily across the rest of the table.  
Which left the smallest area for the living room. It had two giant, plush couches took up the majority of the space, and the rest was taken up by two chairs, and a huge bookshelf, the contents of which spilled across the floor. There were blankets thrown over the couches, and they looked like someone was sleeping there.  
“Who’s here?” Lily asked, confused. James started up the stairs just off the kitchen.  
“Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Sirius is always here.” He chuckled darkly, as they walked through the hallway.  
“How is there a room for me if someone is sleeping on the couch?” She wondered. James laughed again.  
“Remus was adamant that you would show up, so he left one of the guest rooms open for you.” James explained. She frowned.  
“So he’s been sleeping on the couch?” James shook his head.  
“No, thats me. I gave Remus my room.” He said, nonchalantly.  
“What? Why?” She was even more confused. He shrugged.  
“It was either me, or him or Peter. And their guests, so it would have been rude.” He muttered. Lily scoffed.  
“I’ve never known you to be polite.” She snapped, recalling the him bullying Snape. James looked at her, having stopped at a door.  
“People can change, Lily. And I did a while ago.” He said seriously. Lily tried to remember the last time he had called her Lily. She could think of none.  
She also realized that while in the past year, James had been snarky, he hadn’t been outright rude to anyone that didn’t start it. She nodded at him.  
“You’re right. I’m sorry, that was rude.” She said, slightly embarrassed. He smirked at her, and she felt a very slight weakening of her knees.  
“You can be rude to me anytime, Evans.” He winked at her. She snorted slightly and he grinned broadly. “There’s the smile.”  
Her smile faded and she blushed slightly. She looked at the door.  
“Is this Remus’s room?” She asked. He nodded slightly, still smiling at her. She knocked lightly. She realized she could hear __ blaring from inside. She heard a curse, and the squeal of the record being stopped. The door swung open to reveal an annoyed Remus. The annoyance vanished when he saw Lily.  
“Lily, what are you doing here?” His eyes ran over her face and he frowned, placing his hands on her shoulders. “What’s wrong?”  
Lily looked to where James was standing, only to realize that he had vanished. He was giving her space. She frowned, wondering what happened to the old James. Remus shook her lightly, grabbing her attention. She gasped, having forgot he was there. She abruptly hugged him tightly. Surprised, he hugged her back.  
“Red, you gotta tell me what’s going on. Please?” He asked. She pulled back slightly, avoiding his eyes. She sighed and pushed her hair away from her face. A lump formed in her throat. She tried clearing it, but gave up after a moment.  
“My parents. They’re dead.” She took a deep breath, before she started sobbing, not able to keep it back anymore. She covered her mouth. “I’m sorry.”  
Remus didn’t say anything, he simply hugged her again. She hugged him back, happy to have him there.


End file.
